SSTI Digest

The 21st Century Workforce Commission has released its final report, A Nation of Opportunity, and recommendations for developing the nation's new high tech workforce. The report provides an analysis of how leadership in regional partnerships of education, business and government can effectively address critical shortages of skilled workers in information technology jobs.

In an effort to provide quality, high-speed telecommunications services throughout the state, North Dakota has committed $3 million for the first phase of a broadband telecommunications network that is expected to cost the state $20 million when completed. When the first phase is finished later this year, 218 locations in 64 communities will be connected.

Public and private sources in the United States invest approximately $45 billion each year into medical research, but attempts to measure the return on that investment have been few. Exceptional Returns: The Economic Value of America’s Investment in Medical Research presents a preview of the findings of nine economists from the University of Chicago, Harvard University, Yale University, Stanford University and Columbia University. The paper’s release is timed to be of value for the 2001 budget debates in Congress.

The Federal Railroad Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation is soliciting proposal concept papers for research projects, technology advancements and/or demonstrations directed at enhancing the deployment of high-speed rail service. Technologies which are high-priority research candidates for evaluation include: 1) grade crossing hazard mitigation systems, 2) innovative, low cost technologies to improve track and structures, 3) advance train control systems, 4) and non-electric locomotives and passenger equipments systems.

Our Digest archives are back on-line! The Calendar of Events and S&T Resources have also been updated. We apologize for the problems many of you encountered trying to use the site during the past two weeks.

The Angel Capital Electronic Network (ACE-Net) will be privatized by September 1, 2000. The Internet-based listing service for growing companies and angel investors has been run by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Advocacy.

Increasing globalization of research and development (R&D) and the prolific growth of information technology (IT) are major elements in a "science and engineering enterprise that is in transition," the National Science Board (NSB) reports in Science and Engineering Indicators 2000.

A call for action for states from the Northwest region was the result of Linking Regional Resources, a conference of approximately 150 business, government, national laboratory, and university representatives held in Seattle.

How does E-commerce and the Internet affect copyrights for businesses, universities, organizations, and individuals in your state? The United States Copyright Office and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration invite public comments on the issue before August 4, 2000. Comments are sought specifically for the effects of the amendments made by Title 1 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, (``DMCA'') and the development of electronic commerce on the operation of Sections 109 and 117 of Title 17, United States Code.

The most comprehensive accounting of federal R&D investment in each state was released by the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy last Friday. Discovery and Innovation: Federal Research and Development Activities in the Fifty States, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico offers a wealth of information on federal research activity and investment in each state. 

Oklahomans need “to make fundamental changes in the way we see ourselves and the way we do things...to prevent us from slipping farther and farther behind, languishing on the sidelines of the New Economy,” according to a 14-member committee of public and private sector leaders. 

The Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV) remains in the news this week as the National Research Council released a report calling the program "an unqualified success." The report is the sixth completed by NRC since the inception of PNGV in 1993. For more information or to order a copy of the report, visit: http://books.nap.edu/catalog/9873.html